Robert Barba is the technology editor of American Banker. Robert previously served as deputy editor of American Banker's dealmaking and strategy section. He joined American Banker in late 2007 as a community banking reporter, just in time for the financial crisis. Robert played a lead role in covering community banks' struggle for survival in the years following the downturn. Robert has appeared on Fox Business to discuss bank failures and the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program. Prior to joining American Banker, Robert was a general business reporter at Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers in Stuart, Fla. He began his career as a business desk intern at The Denver Post and Boulder Daily Camera. Robert is based in New York.
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Two Florida banks have found a way around squabbling over the value of troubled credits: let the seller keep them.
March 26 -
The midsize New York mortgage lender and the West Coast bank created to house the IndyMac assets are worlds apart in many ways, but their rumored deal is strange enough to work, experts say.
March 14 -
The recent sale of a nearly vacant mall in Kentucky serves as a good case study in unwinding troubled loan participations.
January 7 -
BankFinancial said it had tried "accelerated dispositions" with some of repossessed assets, selling $2.4 million of other real estate owned and accepted offers for another $4.3 million.
November 9 -
Flagstar posted gain-on-sale income of $334 million in the third quarter, an impressive 57% increase from 2Q.
October 25 -
U.S. Bancorp, one of the fastest growing mortgage lenders in the nation, fears the ramifications of the "fiscal cliff."
October 18 -
United Community Financial in Youngstown, Ohio, has reduced its classified assets nearly in half through a bulk sale.
October 10 -
If Joseph Campanelli's job at Flagstar Bancorp was to keep the company alive, Michael Tierney's task is to make it thrive.
October 9 -
Independent mortgage servicers are poised for explosive growth as litigation, new capital rules and risk weighting push traditional banks out of the business, said Wilbur Ross.
October 4 -
The Federal Savings Bank in Overland Park, Kan., said it will open its national home loan center in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood and staff it with as many as 400 new employees.
June 28 -
Customers Bancorp, which is led by veteran banker Jay Sidhu, announced it would acquire Acacia Federal Savings Bank from Ameritas Mutual Holding for $65 million in stock.
June 26 -
Customers Bancorp in Wyomissing, Pa., is giving up nearly 20% of its ownership to venture into the greater Washington, D.C., market.
June 21 -
State regulators closed banks in Georgia, Florida and Tennessee on Friday, making June a busy month for failures.
June 18 -
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed Security Bank in North Lauderdale, Fla., on Friday, bringing the total number of failures so far in 2012 to 23.
May 7 -
Nearly three years after returning to banking and mortgages, Jay Sidhu is preparing to take his latest venture to the next level.
May 3 -
BOK Financial, Tulsa, Okla., reported first-quarter earnings of $83.6 million, up from 29% from a year earlier, as credit costs lowered and mortgage banking revenue soared.
April 24 -
More banks such as Puget Sound Bank, Umpqua Holdings and Wintrust Financial are reaching an inflection point for credit where bad assets are again a mere blip on the radar.
April 23 -
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency closed the $51.9 million-asset Fort Lee Federal Savings Bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. entered into a purchase agreement with Alma Bank in Astoria, N.Y., for $15.7 million of the failed thrift's assets.
April 23
